Kettle strainers. What do you use?

Hey guys, I have a bazooka screen, and I get a ton of hot break and hop matter in my fermenter. I was wondering what kind of screens you guys were using or if you guys were combining screens with hop strainers. What does you kettle setup look like?

Whirlpool 15 minuets then drain from outside edge of kettle.

Ondori said:

Hey guys, I have a bazooka screen, and I get a ton of hot break and hop matter in my fermenter. I was wondering what kind of screens you guys were using or if you guys were combining screens with hop strainers. What does you kettle setup look like?

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I've got the same thing. I use a therminator plate chiller so I stopped whirlpool ing and installed a bazooka. I have to tip the kettle to flood the kettle knock out valve and then use a spoon to scrape crap off the bazooka to keep liquid in my pump.

I just built a hop spider and I'm going to see how that works on next brew day.

mux said:

Whirlpool 15 minuets then drain from outside edge of kettle.

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Do you have a whirlpool chiller or are you just stirring it into a whirlpool or what?

Brewskii said:

I've got the same thing. I use a therminator plate chiller so I stopped whirlpool ing and installed a bazooka. I have to tip the kettle to flood the kettle knock out valve and then use a spoon to scrape crap off the bazooka to keep liquid in my pump.

I just built a hop spider and I'm going to see how that works on next brew day.

Click to expand...

I thought about getting a therminator, but I have a chiller already. I can't see dropping 200 bucks on something I already essentially have. Does it work a lot better than a copper coil chiller?

I use Bobby_M's kettle screen.
http://www.brewhardware.com/false-bottoms-filters
It is not acceptable for use with pellet hops, but it is amazing for leaf hops. Drains like a champ, and actually the leaf hops act as a filter as well and almost no break material gets into the fermenter. This is last Saturdays brew.

knockout hops, 15 min whirlpool, 5 min rest, pump to hoprocket and then to plate chiller. Hop rocket is awesome. easily best investment if you have a march pump.

Ondori said:

I thought about getting a therminator, but I have a chiller already. I can't see dropping 200 bucks on something I already essentially have. Does it work a lot better than a copper coil chiller?

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Therminator was a x-mas gift and, yes; it is amazingly more efficient and faster than the IC I was using. Between waiting for temp and whirl-pooling I'm easily saving 45 min on my brewday and my last brew I chilled to 58 F

bluelakebrewing said:

knockout hops, 15 min whirlpool, 5 min rest, pump to hoprocket and then to plate chiller. Hop rocket is awesome. easily best investment if you have a march pump.

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But your limited to whole cone hops...even the big onlines only have a fraction of the whole hops compared to pellets.

I recently started no-chill brewing and got a bazooka screen. I've found I don't have much of a problem if at least a substantial portion of my hops are whole leaf. But when I do have problems, it's because the screen gets clogged. I don't ever get much trub or hop gunk in my fermenter.

But I feel like the bazooka screen makes it harder to get a good whirlpool going, especially in shallower kettles like mine where it's really difficult to get the spoon low enough without wacking the screen every time around.

If you don't have a plate chiller, there's no reason not to whirlpool. It works very well when done properly.

I got a 1/2" swagelock compression fittin and 90 from HD. That and a little tubing bent to pick up from the outer most edge and your dancing.

After cooling I would stir the crap put of the wort, let it stand for 30 min and then crack the kettle to the fermentor slowly. In 30 min or so I have a trub pile in the kettle and clear wort in the fermenter and it almost dose it itself.

Ondori said:

Do you have a whirlpool chiller or are you just stirring it into a whirlpool or what?

Click to expand...

I use keggles and they have a domed bottom which works great with a whirlpool. I start a whirlpool with my pump and throw in my knock out hops is applicable- whirl pooling for 15- 20 minuets. Them rest for 5- 10 minuets to allow the trub to settle into s nice tight cone in the center of the boiler. I then pump out from the very edge of boiler to my plate chiller. Works awesome! You. Will be amazed at the amount of break and hop material left.

mux said:

I use keggles and they have a domed bottom which works great with a whirlpool. I start a whirlpool with my pump and throw in my knock out hops is applicable- whirl pooling for 15- 20 minuets. Them rest for 5- 10 minuets to allow the trub to settle into s nice tight cone in the center of the boiler. I then pump out from the very edge of boiler to my plate chiller. Works awesome! You. Will be amazed at the amount of break and hop material left.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I think I may look into a whirlpool setup to go with my new boilermaker

Be creative. You could build a whirlpool arm from copper to hook over your kettle so you don't have to drill any holes.